in october 2008, we got a myspace message from a scout named cori concerning a potential placement of one of our songs. we responded, but instead of a cori, someone named lisa repola called us. once we found out that they wanted four hundred bucks just for the referral and have no financial return if they do connect us with listeners, we bailed.

on feburary 17, 2009, we got this email:

Hey Nathan,

I still haven’t forgotten about your music and I think it’s perfect for some of the projects we currently have going on.

If you have any other questions or want to find out about some of our current projects we can submit your music for, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 323-230-9276 or email me back at this address.

I look forward to working with you!

Bella Week
Bella@hittmusicgroup.com
323-230-9276

7624 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles CA, 90046

here’s our reply:

hey bella,

i don’t really buy that you’re interested in my music. last time, i chatted with someone claiming her name was lisa repola, before that you were cori the scout, and now you’re bella and you claim you haven’t forgotten about my music. uh huh…

if you were really interested in selling me on the ability of your company to pair me with outlets that might get potential fan’s attention, perhaps you should demonstrate that you’ve taken an interest. at the very least you could work my band’s name and some descriptive terms of our music into the form letter. instead i hear that you think our “music” is perfect for your “projects.” wow, i’m glad you’re such a fan.

demonstrate that your company plans to do more with my $400 than pay drones to spam and scam musicians and you’ll probably get a lot more interest from a much higher breed of artists. just some unsolicited, professional advice to match your unsolicited attempt at a con.

yours truly,
dr. stryker

of course, she wanted to gain some credibility and have the final word:

I’m sorry to hear that you think that about our company and my intentions in contacting you, Nathan. I was actually hoping to work with you to submit the track, I Never Dared to Dream to this one particular indie film I have been working on this past couple of weeks.
I have taken you off our invitation list, so you won’t be hearing from us again. Sorry for any misunderstandings in the communication you have had with our company.
Good luck,
Bella

interesting that it wasn’t until after we expressed our annoyance that she actually made the effort to visit the myspace and spit back the name of the first song on our playlist.